Hidden Truths
by Sakura Onna
Summary: Demons still exist in modern times,Orirumaru was an example of just how well they blend in.Miroka never believed in demons or anything of that sort until she got a rude awakening.rated M for language and whatever future brings. OC/OC AU
1. Prologue 1

Prologue Part 1

Miroka allowed her head to fall forward on top of her desk with a thud loud enough to draw the attention of half the class. A hopeless groan escaped her throat. She had missed the past two and a half weeks of school due to her grandma's sudden death, and now she couldn't decipher for the life of her what the hell the teachers were talking about. Seriously, every word coming out of all their mouths was like that wah waht wah wah thing the adults do in the Peanuts cartoons! Borrowing her friends notes weren't helping any either. Not even the Pythagorean theorem of A squared plus B squared equals C squared looked familiar anymore. Then to top everything off, Miroka just had to return to school the day before final exams.

"Psst! You okay, Mushi? You seem pretty drained," one of the boys that sat behind her whispered poking Miroka in the back, "but considering you just got back from being sick for so long it's not surprising."

"Being sick?!" Miroka shrieked sitting bolt upright and whipping around in her seat. "Being sick!!! My grandmother gets run over by some son of a bitch fucking drunk driver and I'm away from school because I'm sick!!!!! How about you have your brother get hit by a Ford F-150 and tell me how you feel afterwards!!!" (1)

A heavy silence fell on the classroom after Miroka's heated words and everyone stared at her as if she had suddenly sprouted a second head right in front of them. When Miroka was gone the teachers had said that she had the flu or something to that effect, not the true story. Not what they had just heard come out of her mouth.

The math teacher sputtered for a few moments then finally managed to yell, "Miroka Mushi, out in the hall now!"

"Humph," Miroka turned and grabbed her belongings then stalked in to the hallway slamming the classroom door behind her.

She walked down the hall more dejected than angry and out in to the warm sunlight and air of early summer. In a few weeks school would be over and she would find herself sitting around the now much more empty temple her family had called home for many generations. Miroka had heard the tales of her most revered ancestors every day since she was born as well as the tales of those who had fallen to an evil curse placed on her family by an evil demon. Hell, if Miroka had to use a word to describe the devotion her grandpa showed their ancestors it would be obsessed. The fact that her own name was just one syllable off from being that of the monk Miroku who slew the demon Naraku was proof enough of that concept. Plus then there was also how her family name was one letter off from being the name of the man who raised Miroku, Mushin, didn't help any. Her grandfather was obsessed with their ancestors, and her grandmother had been the one who let Miroka get away with not having to dedicate her life to being a priestess yet even though her grandfather swore up and down that she had the natural spiritual powers for it within her. And soon she be entering high school if she was lucky.

"How could you be so insensitive, Komomura!" Ai, Emiko and Noriko all said at the same time ganging up on the boy who had insulted Miroka and upset her. They had known Miroka since they were in kindergarten practically and knew when to leave her alone.

For the second time that day Komomura had the look of a deer caught in headlights on his face, "I didn't know!" was all he could muster in his own defense.

"That still doesn't mean you had to bring it up!" Miroka's three friends shot back in unison. "Now she's nowhere to be found on school grounds and how the hell is the school going to explain that one to her family when they've already had a lot lost in the past few months."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Didn't you hear that Miroka's little brother, Satoru, vanished without a trace that day that person wearing a mask caused all that commotion a month or so ago (2), and he still hasn't been found. Now her grandma died almost three weeks ago," Noriko said incredulously.

"Things have to be so tough on her and her family with all the stuff going on," Ai said on the verge of tears thinking about what could have happened to Miroka between the time she was kicked out of class and the end of the day.

"What if something serious has happened to her and its your fault?!" Emiko burst out before turning away from the others to keep them from seeing just how upset she was.

* * *

Miroka had been stupid, she knew that now, in sneaking out of school then wandering to the edge of the city by herself. There were plenty of thugs and other criminals out there that could do her harm that were of the variety she believed in. Never in a million years had she thought she would now be pinned in a dead end alley by a giant freak of nature! No way were centipedes supposed to be as large as the one currently facing her down! It had to be a good ten fucking feet tall when reared up the way it was and somewhere close to fifty feet long. Was this thing a result of nuclear radiation or something like Godzilla?! And how the fucking hell was that thing now found before now by someone?!

* * *

A/N: I know this is short so far, but I'm going to start the second part of the prologue shortly after this is posted. And yes the other main character enters the scene in Prologue Part 2. Please R&R!

(1) I hold nothing against this vehicle personally, it was just the first truck that came to mind.

(2)Reference to that flesh eating Noh mask that had a Shikon jewel shard in its forehead from anime episode 11 and 6th battle in the manga, can't remember what chapter off hand.


	2. Prologue 2

Prologue Part 2

Orirumaru warily walked through the alleyways at the outskirts of Tokyo. It was rare for him to catch the scent of any of his own kind these days so the scent of the centipede and its proximity to inhabited land did nothing for his nerves. He had lived among humans too long to not know just how bad a sign that was. If a human became that centipede's snack, and just happened to have people that would come looking for them if they went missing, the whole world would figure out that demons weren't just a bed time story and the demon hunts from the end of the Feudal Era would return until every last demon on the face of the earth was completely eradicated for good. Or worse yet they could be rounded up and carted off to some lab somewhere and taken apart piece by tiny piece in the attempt to find out what makes a demon tick along with any other sick experiment the scientific community could come up with.

As Orirumaru reached the mouth of the centipede's alley his silvery hair stood on end. His keen ears caught the sound of a terrified whimper from the depth of the alley as well as the centipede's hissing. The centipede had clearly cornered its prey in the alley, and as Orirumaru had feared it was a human, a young female by the scent. A growl escaped his throat as he drew forth his own venom into his claws. He had to strike fast and true if he was going to melt the centipede in one blow without showing himself for what he was. He rounded the corner quickly before the giant centipede could sense his presence and punched his claws through its thick hide then released his venom. Just as quickly he withdrew his hand as the centipede screamed in agony before it turned into a puddle of bubbling goo. His hand showed no sign of either his venom or the centipede's blood. He gazed at the puddle that had been the centipede demon with a slight feeling of regret for having to kill one of his own kind, but soon enough cast the feeling aside to look at the girl that was its intended meal.

Plain was the first impression that came to his mind followed by that she was a bit taller than most women. Her hair was that color that can't quite be called light brown or dark blonde and her eyes were muddy brown framed in a regular oval face. The clothes she wore were those of a middle school student, the sailor suit kind, with the skirt being a light blue as well as the details on her long sleeve top, a school bag lay on the ground beside where she sat. She was close to being five foot seven inches tall from what he could guess and she probably had a few more years of growing to do before she reached her full height. Probably wouldn't have tasted that great anyways if he had left the centipede alone. Oh, well.

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Miroka couldn't believe her eyes as the larger than life centipede turned into a giant puddle of goo right in front of her eyes. Startled she looked slightly past where the centipede had been and her breath caught in her throat. There stood the young man that just had to be her savior. His clothes were that of some street punk or punk rock wannabe, but the way he stood reminded her more of some noble lord of an age long gone by. She had the feeling he could wear the rags of a beggar and still look like a proud noble lord. He was taller than anyone else she had seen before at over six feet with beautiful shoulder length silver hair and startling green eyes. His face had slightly feminine proportions to it but the aura of strength that waft off of him clearly wasn't that of a woman. He stood there silently assessing her for a few moments, a calculating intelligence shining clearly through his green eyes, then turned on his heel and started to walk away without a word.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Miroka rose from the ground and started to follow him, "Wait!"

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"Wait!" the girl called out to him causing his step to falter.

Orirumaru sucked in a deep breath. He didn't want nor need this human's attention or thanks. He had killed the centipede to save his hide more than hers. He knew he should just keep walking and ignore her now that she wasn't being threatened by his kind, but there was some note in her voice that held him in place. Even though he could summon a million reasons why he shouldn't be standing there still, even if his back was turned to her in clear dismissal, he couldn't make his feet take another step.

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When he stopped Miroka's mind went blank of what she was going to say. Then when she managed to speak her voice shook, "Thank you, for saving me."

"Don't thank me," he growled in reply and continued to walk away. "You better get out of here before a search party gets sent out to find you."

The mysterious young man vanished into the shadows before Miroka could think to call out to him again or chase after him. She stood in stunned silence for a few moments before his parting words sunk into her head, and she grabbed her bag and ran back to the part of the city she was most familiar with. Miroka kept most of the details about what happened to her when she was on the outskirts of Tokyo to herself thinking that no one would believe her and if they did it would just cause a giant panic. Her friends hounded her for more information beyond that it was just a walk in a less familiar place and she got lost for a while. Her mother fretted about how much dirt she was covered in when she got home and kept asking if she really was alright. Thoughts of that mysterious man with silver hair kept popping into her mind as she lay in bed that night trying to get some sleep.

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Orirumaru had followed the girl's scent subconsciously after she had returned to her home. There was something about her that kept nagging at him, something about her aura. It wasn't that of most humans he encountered in his daily life. It was much closer to that of a practitioner of the spiritual arts. She didn't have the look of one though nor the bearing of one. That was probably it. Hell from what he could see she lived in an actual temple that had existed since before he was born in the Feudal Era with sacred trees and everything! To call such a place home she had to come from a long line of priests and monks. But if that was true why didn't she recognize him as being not human? Priests, monks and priestess started out with their training from the time they started to walk practically from what he had seen over the years, but then the number of those with any real power had been on a severe decline for centuries just like the demon ranks.

Orirumaru sat perfectly balanced in his treetop perch across for the temple watching what he could of the inhabitants activities. Small family, he noted, one elderly male, one older female, most likely the mother, and the girl. Where was her father? Surely human males kept a better eye on their young then most demon males. Orirumaru continued to observe the family and the temple, mostly out of sudden curiosity, well after all three inhabitants were asleep. There had been an interesting moment though when the old man had come outside for a few minutes.

He had looked in Orirumaru's direction, almost as if he could sense the demon's presense, before calling out a threat, "If you so much as try to harm a hair on my remaining grandchild's head, I will hunt you down and slay you myself, you fell beast!"

The old man's words sent a wave of amusement coursing through Orirumaru. What could a priest _that _old and grizzled do to _him_, a full grown, mature and powerful demon? His words were revealing though. It looked like the girl was the last of the old man's descendants, and if she died than at the very least that branch of her line would end. There had been others once. A brother? A sister? Would his father, the great and mighty Sesshomaru, have cared that much about him after that day if he had given a rat's ass about his three pups?

Annoyance at the turn of his thoughts caused Orirumaru to shake his head vigorously then turn and leave the temple grounds with his superhuman speed. At this late hour and the troubling thoughts crowding in he didn't care so much if someone saw him. Chances would be that anyone that saw him would have been drunk off their rocker and stumbling over themselves anyways. . .

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"Hey, Miroka!" Sota called with a smile and wave as he ran up the temple's steps. "Any news yet about Satoru?"

Miroka looked up from her sweeping of the temple grounds in surprise. Sota Higurashi had been her younger brother's friend since kindergarten practically and had come to the temple at least once a week since Satoru had vanished. A small sad smile reached her face as she looked down at the energetic nine year old. To think her brother used to smile over the smallest things sometimes.

"I'm sorry, Sota, but not even the smallest peep so far. It seems you came all the way here for nothing again," Miroka said with regret.

"It's okay, Miroka, because I can still hang out here with you so it's not totally nothing," Sota replied between huffs after he reached the top of the steps, his hands on his knees. "Jeez this place has more steps to it than home does!"

"What do you expect? This is a working temple not the little shrine you live in. Besides if you keep running up those steps like that you won't get fat for a long while no matter how much sweets you eat." Miroka teased with a smile that wasn't so laced with sadness.

"HEY!!!" Sota cried straightening himself causing Miroka to laugh a little. "I don't eat nearly as much as Inuyasha does!!!"

"Inuyasha?" Miroka asked in confusion followed by the thought of 'Where have I heard that name before?'

"Sis's new boyfriend. They haven't been seeing each other for long but you can tell their together. Inuyasha isn't too bad a guy but he eats like a pig," Sota clarified with that exasperated tone of younger siblings who don't know what's so great about dating yet.

A small laugh escaped Miroka's throat on Sota's behalf. Miroka caught a small flash of movement from the corner of her eye and a soft chuckle. Startled she turned to look in the direction she saw the movement, and found herself staring at the tallest of the sacred trees on the temple's property.

* * *

Orirumaru couldn't completely suppress his laugh at the human child's words. So the family's half-breed had miraculously survived this long too. From what he had heard of him, it was beyond Orirumaru's thought process how that happened. When he saw the girl turn to look in his direction he froze instantly. Maybe she wasn't half bad on survival instincts after all since her eyes kept scanning the tree he currently sat in trying to find even the slightest clue of where he was. Yes, he knew it was him she was trying to find now since there could be no mistake. He watched as a frown formed on her face and her brows formed a frown of their own on her forehead. He was hidden enough by the tree's foliage that she couldn't see him.

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Miroka eventually gave up and spent the rest of Sota's visit playing games with him in-between finishing her chores. The glimpse of movement was never that far from her mind though and as such she kept a part of her attention focused on her surroundings. About a half hour after Sota left to return home Miroka noticed that one of the doors to the storehouse was partially open. She went to the door and peered inside the darkened storehouse. Nothing moved inside which gave her the courage to open the door fully and enter the storehouse. The afternoon sunlight streamed past Miroka's shoulder to pool on the floor and illuminate part of the numerous shelves. She hedged in the threshold for a few moments then taking a deep breath stepped in to the storehouse to see if there was anything in it that didn't belong there. Miroka got to the back shelf without finding any explanation for the partly open door when suddenly the door slammed shut leaving her in total darkness. Miroka rushed to the door and tried to open it, but no matter how hard she tugged and pulled and shoved on the door it wouldn't open.

"Mom! Grandpa! Open the door this isn't funny! Sota, if you did this I swear I'm going to ring your scrawny neck for this if you don't let me out!" Miroka shouted at the top of her lungs pounding on the door with both fists as panic started to set in.

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Orirumaru awoke from his dose at the girl's screaming. What the hell was the problem now with her? He sat up and stretched cramped limbs then took a quick survey of the temple. He remembered almost immediately then that the mother and old man had left the temple shortly after the boy did to run some errands leaving her all alone in the vast temple complex. With a shake of his head he walked calmly to the place he could hear all the racket she was making coming from. First thing he noticed was the growing aura of holy power coming from the storehouse followed closely by the sight of another demon in humanoid form sitting calmly in front of the door holding it closed with the smallest of efforts of one hand. At first the female didn't acknowledge his presence but after he gave her a swift kick to the side cracking five of her ribs she didn't ignore him any longer. She hissed at him and said "Mine" in a tone that wouldn't have aroused a question in a weaker demon than Orirumaru. His response was just to kick her in the face with a menacing growl followed by a low "find yourself something else to eat like a homeless bum no one will miss". The female demon fled for her life blood flowing freely from her broken nose down her face. Orirumaru shook his head in disbelief and turned to the storehouse door that the girl was still pounding on oblivious of what had happened outside. He reached out and opened the door in one smooth motion causing her to come spilling out on to the cobbled ground. After a quick glance down at her he knew that she was fine except for having skinned elbows and the living shit scared out of her. He turned and began to walk away from her and the temple.

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Miroka couldn't explain it but as she sat up she knew that it was the same mysterious young man that had saved her before that had opened the door letting her out. She lifted her head to thank him and in seeing his retreating back again she stood and began to follow determined not to be brushed off like an annoying insect again. As he started to walk faster clearly knowing she was there behind him, she sped up as well and soon Miroka was drawing on her track experience to keep up with him.

Orirumaru felt a wave of admiration followed by annoyance at the girl's ability to keep with him like she was. It seemed that unless he surpassed the human range of ability he wouldn't be able to get rid of her, and that would be even less beneficial than just speaking with her. He didn't want to speak with the stubborn thing though. Humans were nothing but trouble and pain. It wasn't until he reached the Kanade Park that he stopped dead in his tracks to look at her.

Miroka was covered in sweat from head to toe from her run and gasping for air when she halted not far behind had never run almost full speed that far before and it felt like her heart was going to leap out of her throat. The green eyes that looked her over from head to toe held a look of one part concern, one part annoyance and one part admiration. How he couldn't be winded like her was beyond Miroka's comprehension.

Before she could even realize what words were coming out of her mouth after she regained her wind enough to speak she said, "What track team were you on? You must have been there star runner with your abilities."

Orirumaru scoffed, "Never been on no team and don't plan on it. It isn't worth the effort. Besides that, what's it to you, wench?"

"Miroka."

"What?"

"My name is Miroka not wench."

"And why should I give a fuck about that?"

"Because you've saved me twice now from situations that probably would have killed me that's why."

"I don't give a shit about that. Go home and leave me alone."

"Isn't it normal to want to repay one's debts to their rescuer for stuff like this?"

"You have nothing to offer or that you could do that I would want. Now go home and leave me alone, girl!"

"Can't I at least know your name?" Miroka asked turning her face away to hide her disappointment.

He was silent for so long she had to wonder if he had vanished in to thin air on her leaving her by herself in the mostly empty park. When he finally spoke it in a quiet distant tone that startled her, "Orirumaru."

* * *

Against every other thought of logic in his mind Orirumaru felt a pang of guilt for her feeling of disappointment and hurt being caused by him, and soon found he couldn't quite bring himself to leave her completely alone. Something about her drew him like a magnet or a planet does a moon. He couldn't fight the wish to keep an eye on her. Each night he found himself monitoring an invisible parameter around the temple and drove away what he could of his own kind that threatened her. It didn't quite take long for him to stop trying to disguise his presence from her, and eventually he made a vow to himself to protect her from harm.

* * *

A/N: Sounds a bit like Inuyasha with Kagome/ Kikyo early on doesn't it? Next onto the real story!!! Please click that little button that says review and tell me what you think so far!!! It doesn't even have to be much. I'll even take lol at this point.


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